Friday, 30 November 2012

Forgot it was the last day of the fishing season at the pond
and along with film crews insisting on doing interviews on the shore-line and
boats chugging here and there it was a disappointing visit. Shoveler, 15
Red-legged Partridge and 20 Golden Plover was about the best we could find before
clearing off to see Liz.

Don’t know what they were putting in her boiler but she flew
around the Wormleighton curve like the devil was up her jacksee, pure bliss. She
will be hauling THE WORCESTER ANNIVERSARY CHRISTMAS FAYRE from London
Paddington to Worcester
tomorrow. There were a few Tree Sparrows in the lane and Willow Tit, Great-spotted and Green Woodpecker by the
railway crossing but very little on the reservoir.

Thursday, 29 November 2012

Pre dawn visit to Lawford Heath produced a hunting Barn Owl
and Tawny Owl perched while the Lawford
Heath Lane finch flock were very active in the
very cold conditions with some very smart looking male Brambling against a
frosty background.

Thirty Two Common Scoter’s greeted our arrival at the pond
which is one of our largest flocks we have had here for awhile and the largest
group I have seen here that just contained females. Other duck included a long
overdue Goosander with a male off draycote bank, 10 Gadwall, 90 Teal, 10
Pochard, 18 Gadwall, 17 Goldeneye and 7 Wigeon.

Lots of Goldcrest with 13 between toft shallows and sewage
farm along with 29 Siskin and a Lesser Redpoll in the same areas.

The time spent on farborough bank searching the Grandborough
valley paid off when a Short-eared Owl being mobbed by corvids came in from the
east and appeared to go behind the country park, also noted were Peregrine and
2 Sparrowhawk.

A search of the country park produced a Nuthatch probably
attracted to the area by the activity on the Rangers feeder station. Other sightings included 27 Long-tailed Tit, 10 Meadow Pipits
and 5 Jay plus a Weasel.

Wednesday, 28 November 2012

Overnight arrivals at the pond included 4 Shelduck and a
female Common Scoter and an increase in Teal with a 110 counted.
Mid morning 2
Whooper Swan flew over the west side of reservoir and appeared to go down in
the leam valley. Other sightings included 18 Goldeneye, 4 Wigeon and 18
Gadwall. Colin reported the saddle bank Trees Sparrows still present.

Earlier we had 8 Tree Sparrow in the Grandborough valley
while the finch flock in Lawford
Heath Lane had an increase in Greenfinch numbers plus 3 Buzzards and a couple of Jays noted.

Tuesday, 27 November 2012

More rain overnight with a cool north easterly wind which brought in 6
Shoveler an increase in the Gadwall flock to 26 in toft shallows along with 60+
Teal, 4 Goldcrest, 8 Long-tailed Tit, 20 Siskin and 3 Lesser Redpoll. Between the
weather fronts 120+ Golden Plover flew north and 300+ Lapwing appeared over the
grandborough valley from farborough bank which had 15 Meadow Pipit. Two Ravens
over the car park as we left.

Despite being cold and damp we had a look for the Lawford Heath Lane finch
flock managing 25+ Brambling along with 20 Tree Sparrow and a single Lesser
Redpoll amongst the Chaffinches.

Sunday, 25 November 2012

New build Peppercorn Class A1 60163 Tornado photographed this morning slowly approaching Didcote East Junction behind Class 56 locomotive 56312 for access to the Great Western Society’s
Didcote Railway Centre for a special event for Convenantors of the A1 Steam
Locomotive Trust to have a close-up view of her in BR blue livery for the first
time.

Thursday, 22 November 2012

With a dry blustery morning it was a frustrating visit with fishermen
and wildfowl wanting the same sheltered areas. The wildfowl lost so I will be
glad to see the fishing season finish at the end of the month.

Bob managed to find a Chiffchaff in rainbow corner otherwise
4 Snipe, Tree Sparrow and 3 Raven were the only highlights.

Leam valley starting to flood, viewed from hensborough bank as the next weather front moves in over Napton and Shugborough which brought more heavy rain early evening.

Wednesday, 21 November 2012

With almost 24 hours of rain, especially heavy and prolonged
over night it was not surprising that many areas of the valley are starting to
flood, even brooks and road side ditches that I hardly ever see any water in
were brimming over.

Dave and I planned a lazy breakfast over a game of scrabble
till it ceased but alas that wasn’t to be so after a hard fought draw we decided
not to out stay our welcome and moved on to Napton Reservoir.

With the deluge continuing water was pouring in to the
reservoir at hell of a rate and many of the Snipe had taken to the adjacent
boggy fields or were flying around in large numbers and we ended up with a
minimum count of a 110 almost doubling the record set on Sunday. Also present
were 30 Golden Plover over, male Pochard, Cormorant and Kingfisher while the entrance
road was full of winter thrushes and finches.

Moved on to the Baseley smallholding where we were treated
to 3 more Snipe, 3 Lesser Redpolls, 30 Yellowhammer and 20 Tree Sparrow.

Our last stop was the pond but with poor visibility, rain
becoming heavier and squelching boots we gave up for the comfort of a hot toddy
and a chance to dry out. Dave thought he had the Black-necked Grebe briefly but
I saw nowt due to fogged up lenses.

Monday, 19 November 2012

Lordy lordy someone’s listening.
I have been ranting off
blog that the pond is crap and predictable poor, well it certainly wasn’t when Bob
and I visited today.
Our visit started off so badly that we turned back at
farborough spit after only recording a Jay and 30+ Meadow Pipit. Luckily as we approached the visitor centre a mixed flock of
finches feeding between the farborough bank perimeter road and the pay and
display car park contained 30+ Lesser Redpolls and could have included a couple
of juvenile flammea. Views were limited due to the constant disturbance from
cyclist and walkers and not helped when the road around the visitor centre was
closed for cable laying.
Now buoyed up a little we decided to look for the
Brambling flock Bob had on Friday and as we passed the sailing club a
Short-eared Owl flew over the reservoir heading towards us then veered right
and observed heading towards the sewage farm before returning via biggen bay. While
watching the owl a Curlew flew past it heading east. Despite harassment from
corvids and gulls it finally flew over the picnic area near hensborough bank
and lost out of sight. Bob checked the country park and rewarded
with a male Brambling while I stayed by the windsurfing car park and had 6
Siskin. By the time we reached rainbow corner the wind had freshened and the finch
flock was tucked up against the hedgerow and did not show well. On our way back we gave the country park another search just in case and had 80 Golden Plover over.

Sunday, 18 November 2012

We were freezing our bits off down the valley at Calcutt
long before sunrise enjoying views of Jupiter and its four moons, the polar cap
of Venus, a meteorite, Orion and Sirus with the company of a Fox, 2 Tawny Owls
and hundreds of winter thrushes leaving their roost. The space shed passed over
on time giving very prolonged views.

The conditions had pushed the Snipe out on to the remaining
exposed mud at Napton Reservoir as the water levels rise again with a record
count of 56. Other sightings included a white Rabbit, 2 Water Rail, mega
numbers of thrushes, 4 Wigeon, 10 Mute Swan, 3 Raven and 3000+ Starling leaving
there nearby roost on a broad front.

With time to kill before breakfast we took a look at the
Baseley Tree Sparrows with 8 on the feeders and 50+ around the brick barn along
with 70 Yellowhammer and many finches.

After breakfast Wormleighton Reservoir had 10
Tree Sparrow and single Marsh Tit but a noticeable lack of finches and
Yellowhammer. The hedgerows along the railway line were full of winter thrushes
but the reservoir was void of birds.

Saturday, 17 November 2012

The International Space Station is currently on view but
predictably poor weather has stopped me reporting her but with a clear sky’s for tonight and a chilly frosty Sunday morning then it could be
worth getting up for, its predicted to show really well as she passes over
southern England heading east. Both Venus and Jupiter will also be on show.

Date, time

Az

Time

Az

El

Time

Az

Mag

11/18 07:00

W
260°

07:05

S
179°

60°

07:10

E
93°

-2.1

The day started grotty but had brightened a little by the
time Dave dropped me off at The Great Central Railway in Loughborough who were
holding a Steam Enthusiast Event over the weekend with at least 3 steam engines
in operation.
While I played train spotter he went off to umpire a couple of
games of hockey. In between bouts of steam bliss I managed 15 Long-tailed Tits
and Mute Swan over.

47406 quenching its thirst

78019 reversing towards the water tower

777 Sir Lamiel enjoying the public's appreciation

48624 resting in siding

Met up with Dave 4 hours later and he was cock a hoop that he had seen 10 Waxwing in the car park of the Soar Valley Leisure Center in Mountsorrell as he was leaving so celebrated with a coffee. As the “mount” was on our way home we called in at 4pm but
there was no sign so Dave suggested a walk to the adjacent housing estate which
had a few rowan trees. No sooner had the footpath from the car park reached Otter Lane there
were 9 Waxwing perched above the footpath opposite. Managed a record shot in
fading light.

Friday, 16 November 2012

The Brandon Marsh female Smew was a little more co-operative
though distant from east marsh hide where there were 26 Snipe showing and the
only other bird of note was a flock of 30 Lesser Redpoll that flew over. Corn
Bunting seen on the way home at Cawston.

Wednesday, 14 November 2012

An afternoon’s walk along the Hereward Way at Eldernell, Cambridgeshire
over looking the Nene Wash was very atmospheric as the sun went down with
plenty of activity as many species came in to roost. Although 3 Common Crane, 4
Marsh Harrier, Barn Owl, Sparrowhawk, 200 Whooper Swan, 2 Bewick’s Swan, 3000
Golden Plover and endless numbers of Starling, Lapwing and Wood Pigeon are
worth mentioning the star of the show was the setting sun. As it turned red and
lost its brightness scope views revealed the sunspot activity. Dave and I were
chuffed that we could see at least six with some looking very large but on
checking the internet (spaceweather.com) they were reporting over a 100 though
many of theses are only detectable via some very sophisticated telescopes. Missed a Greater Horseshoe Bat that other birders had over the car park

Tuesday, 13 November 2012

We had an early morning look at Napton Reservoir to see what yesterdays workmen had been up to and appears they are scraping out the overflow channel at the narrow end of reservoir. Luckily they don’t seem to be affecting the majority of the reservoir at the moment as there were 21 Snipe, 3 Water Rail, 2 Shoveler, 7 Wigeon and 10 Teal present. As dawn broke 1500 Starling, 400 Fieldfare and 300 Redwing flew south west and single Raven and 2 Buzzard also noted.

The pond had the Black-necked Grebe between K and M buoys eventually drifting towards hensborough bank and showing reasonably well. Plenty of passerines around with 9 Lesser Redpoll and 3 Goldcrest in the wind surfing area, 1500 Redwing and 800 Fieldfare moving south over Draycote village, 12 Siskin west over rainbow corner, 2 Tree Sparrow on the new feeder below saddle bank with 3 Jay and 30 Yellowhammer in the same area.. There were 2 large finch flocks a couple of fields away which could have contained more Tree Sparrows and the odd Brambling plus 200 Lapwing were over the leam valley which also held more Redwing and Fieldfare.

Finally ended up at Brandon Marsh but dipped on the Smew and Waxwing, just 2 Snipe, Nuthatch and Chiffchaff for our efforts.

Monday, 12 November 2012

We were down the Grandborough valley before dawn searching
suitable owl habitat but did not find any though we were treated to a stunning
sunrise with plenty of Fieldfare and Redwing leaving their roost plus 3
Goldcrest and a Chiffchaff. The baseley smallholding had 15 Tree Sparrow, Coal
Tit and Snipe.

Moved on to Napton Reservoir as it started to cloud over which was full of workmen
awaiting the arrival of heavy plant so we had a quick look before the
disturbance started and surprisingly had 2 Water Rail out in the open, Jack
Snipe at the base of the exposed reed bed, 25+ Snipe, 2 Shoveler, 10 Teal, Grey
Wagtail and 3 Reed Bunting. Once the class 5 mark 4, turbo boosted JCB thingy arrived
we scarpered and as we passed Napton on the Hill there were 7 Raven over the
quarry.

With the arrival of low cloud and persistent rain our look
at the pond was brief and damp. Visibility poor so only had the Black-necked
Grebe and 50+ Meadow Pipit.

Sunday, 11 November 2012

Having spent the evening observing Jupiter and her moons
near the Hyades open cluster I woke to the delightful sight of Venus very close
to a slender crescent moon.

Unfortunately as is typical of this time of year visibility
in the Grandborough valley was the opposite of my garden being down to 30
meters in places so Dave and I failed to find any owls. The pond was shrouded
in mist which was burning off pretty quickly in places but by the time we had
reached toft bay and had seen sweet FA we were thinking of giving up when a
Black-throated Diver flew in and headed for biggen bay. Just our luck it
decided at the last minute to continue further on and landed near the valve
tower and become shrouded in the last slow clearing fog bank. Had to wait
nearly an hour for visibility to improve and despite extensive searching we
failed to re-locate it.

Bob Hazel had a BTD briefly on the 2nd November
which I presume was the one that appeared at Stanford Reservoir on the 3rd
and 4th but no reports since so it could be circulating the area.

The only other birds of note was the Black-necked Grebe near
M buoy, 50 Meadow Pipits and the unusual sight of a Great-crested Grebe on the
grassy side of farborough bank when we first arrived.

Although we arrived at the Long Itch Diner later than usual
the prompt service soon had us back out in the field in record time though all
we found was 15 Raven, 2 Buzzard and a Peregrine on Napton on the Hill before
the news of a Little Bunting in the county buggered up many a birders Sunday roast.

Friday, 9 November 2012

Brief visit to Brandon Marsh this afternoon produced the female Smew though she was elusive at times, also seen were 25 Siskin, Lesser Redpoll, Kingfisher, 2 male Goldeneye, Snipe and 2 Great-spotted Woodpecker. Did not have time to do Lawford Heath justice but the maise harvest has been completed and some areas looked quite birdy.

Thursday, 8 November 2012

There was a bit more variety at the pond today with 17
Golden Plover heading North West
plus 100 Fieldfare and 60 Redwing on the move while 40 Fieldfare were in the
field behind farnborough spit.

Between toft shallows and grays barn there were 17 Lesser Redpoll,
25 Siskin and Chiffchaff calling while on the water the Black-necked Grebe
remained distant off hensborough bank eventually drifting towards toft bay.
Also present were 10 Goldeneye, 2 Pochard 40 Meadow Pipit and a Raven flew over
toft bay. Visibility was so good today another 10 Ravens could be scoped over
Napton on the Hill from toft bank.

Wednesday, 7 November 2012

A very similar morning to the 28th October with a
heavy overnight movement of thrushes, pigeons and starlings petering out
to virtually nothing by 9am. From our vantage point at Grandborough Fields just
after dawn we had 3000 Wood Pigeon, 1500 Fieldfare, 1000 Starling, 800 Redwing
going over in one hour along with smaller numbers of finches and larks. Further
along the Flecknoe road there was a flock of 30 Yellowhammer at Woodbine Farm
plus 800 Starling feeding on the deck while the Basely smallholding had 20 Tree
Sparrow and a distant female Brambling.

The pond unfortunately was dire and we only managed 10
Long-tailed Tit, 40 Meadow Pipit, 7 Gadwall and 3 Goldeneye till we met Bob
Hazel who pointed out the Black-necked Grebe for us some distance away.

Monday, 5 November 2012

Bob managed a record shot of the Black-necked Grebe which
was at least 300 yards off hensborough bank otherwise our visit to the pond was
a bit quiet with female Brambling near the sewage farm entrance, 4 Goldcrest
and 7 Siskin in the same area. Earlier we had 50+ Meadow Pipit on hensborough
bank while the only duck of interest was 16 Goldeneye and 16 Wigeon. At least 5
Jays scattered around the site while 500 Starling flew over west in small
groups plus one group of Skylark.

In the Grandborough valley the River Leam had broken its
banks. There were 300 Fieldfare, 50 Redwing and a Grey Wagtail behind Kites Hardwick, 2 Brambling and 12 Tree Sparrow on the Baseley
Smallholding, 60 House Sparrow and 3 Tree Sparrow Woodbine Farm, 24 Golden Plover over Grandborough Fields Farm and a day flying Barn
Owl between Woolscott and the A45.

Black-necked Grebe by Bob Hazel

This evening while half of Rugby seemed to be burning their wage packets Jupiter was worth looking at before the mist and smog sets in. If you have a high mag scope its red spot is visible.

Sunday, 4 November 2012

After being ill with food poising for a week I
was bitterly disappointed that today’s effort in Cambridgeshire was washed out
by heavy rain. Oh well – at least I’m back in the land of the living and not
tied to the big white telephone anymore.

Common Gull with fishing line taken by Bob Hazel in the week at the pond